States Logistics Inc.: Going the Extra Mile

This fully integrated provider of third party logistics has used technology and sustainability to stand out. With years of experience under their belts, the management team at States Logistics Inc. knows the significance of smoothly-run supply chain for any company. They also recognize most companies would prefer a single source provider of logistics, warehousing transportation and packaging. These factors alone make the West Coast company a standalone organization in a competitive industry.



States Logistics, Inc. featured in Executive Digital Magazine – http://www.execdigital.com/Magazine.aspx?id=1506

States Logistics, Inc. Partnering with Clif Bar & Company – In Good Company 2009 New Orleans

States Logistics, Inc. has been invited by our business partner Clif Bar & Company to participate in a community initiative called “In Good Company”. Clif Bar & Company supports causes they believe in which has been part of the company’s identity from the start. They know that they have a special role to play in working toward a healthier, more sustainable world, and Clif Bar & Company have learned that their efforts can be even more effective when they partner with others. With this in mind, they reached out to businesses that share our interest in serving our communities––both local and global––to join us in growing In Good Company. The idea behind the program is to bring like-minded, community-oriented companies together to focus awareness on people and places in need through hands-on action. In Good Company is designed to evolve traditional philanthropy into a more active, engaging, personal part of life.

This year States Logistics, Inc. will be sending two associates, Val Itula and Todd Christensen to join with Clif Bar & Company in this exciting project. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the spirit of the people of New Orleans have transcended the distance between communities, making New Orleans local to all of us. This is ideal ground for In Good Company, which promotes community on multiple levels at once by fostering relationships among employees, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and local residents, as well as creating opportunities for collaboration and shared learning among companies.

Partner Organizations in New Orleans
They will be working directly with 3 organizations while they are down in New Orleans, Rebuilding Together, New Orleans Food and Farming Network, and Bayou Rebirth. Each of these organizations is still working hard to restore the community of New Orleans by getting their neighbors safely back into their homes, while also providing access to reliable sources of fresh and healthy food for one and all.


1. Through Rebuilding Together, we have elected to sponsor one home and will be working on a variety of projects together, ranging in levels of difficulty, so there will be something for everyone interested in home restoration.
2. For those who are interested in food and farming issues, they are excited to be working with New Orleans Food and Farming Network and will have an opportunity to work on a range of projects, including completion of several backyard gardens for those who like to get their hands dirty.
3. They also wanted to make sure that we had a broader perspective on the environmental risks facing the area that have been amplified by a combination of regional development and increasingly intensive weather systems that have ravaged the local swamp and marshlands. They all will travel one day east to Big Branch Reserve to work together with local park rangers and experts from Bayou Rebirth on a habitat restoration project that will replant marsh grasses in a very vulnerable area of the bayou.

Green logistics: Industry expert cites ways of going green and cutting costs at the same time

WALTHAM, Mass.-It's possible to save money and the environment at the same time, and if you need proof, just look at the Green Machine.

That was the message Jack Ampuja, president of the consulting firm Supply Chain Optimizers, and executive director of the Center for Supply Chain Excellence at Niagara University in Lewiston, N.Y., was trying to get across at a Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) New England Round Table event in Waltham, Mass. Tuesday night.

The event featured, among other things, a description of a new type of tractor for hauling freight, which Ampuja dubbed the "Green Machine" because of its environmentally-friendly design.

The tractor, he said, was conceived and built by a number of former trucking industry workers and veterans in Michigan. The tractor, Ampuja said, contains a long list of "green" enhancements, including nitrogen-filled tires (ordinary air escapes through the rubber over time), carbon-fiber springs, and a special hydrogen injector system for the engine.

Right now, companies like office furniture maker Hayworth, along with Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch and other companies, are expecting to save thousands of gallons of fuel per truck per year, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by amounts measured in metric tons.

But Ampuja was selling a point, not a truck: for all the cutting-edge improvements and patented design, Ampuja said the tractor is built out of off-the-shelf parts, and therefore costs the same as any other tractor on the market, so using them will not cost extra. If anything, Ampuja said, using them will save money long-term.

And that, Ampuja told the packed room, is the reality of the green movement in the corporate world.

"They (cutting costs and helping the environment) are not at odds," he said. "They complement each other."

Ampuja cited a recent study by the Aberdeen Group which found that leading companies are "greening up" by, among other things, redesigning logistics systems and redesigning packaging.

In addition to technological advances, Ampuja challenged the audience of supply chain managers, consultants and vendors to look to their own operations for other ways to go green and save money. Network optimization applications, he said, will be another major component of a green plan in the future, especially with oil prices expected to rise.

Read the rest of the logisticsmgmt.com article here.

As a company, part of our mission is to support our local communities. One of the organizations that we continue to support is the Alzheimer’s Association. The Orange County Alzheimer’s Association is having their annual Memory Walk on Saturday, October 17th at 10am on the campus of Cal State University of Fullerton. The Arizona Alzheimer’s Association is having their annual Memory walk on Saturday, October 24th in West Valley at the Beardsley Recreation Center at 9am.



The States Logistics “teams” for CA and AZ have been created on Memory Walk web site, where you can join the team and we can all walk as a group – or just support your fellow co-workers. Click the following link to go directly to the States Logistics Team Pages for CA and AZ:



http://memorywalk.kintera.org/csuf/stateslogistics



http://memorywalk2009.kintera.org/westvalley/stateslogistics



In addition to walking, we have also reached out to the Alzheimer’s Association about volunteer opportunities on the day of the walk. For more information contact the States Logistics Human Resources Department.



The States Logistics family has participated in the Memory Walk for the past several years. It is a great opportunity to support a worthy cause … get in some light exercise … and spend a couple of hours with family and friends.

New Study Highlights Role of Third-Party Logistics Providers in Helping Shippers Adapt to Economic Challenges

The fourteenth Annual Third Party Logistics (3PL) Study examining the current global market for logistics outsourcing was recently released. The study surveyed shippers and logistics service providers in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Key findings included:

* The economic downturn has created significant challenges for both shippers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) – 82% of shippers are employing cost-cutting tactics and 60% are rethinking their supply chains and relationships with 3PLs
* 88% of shippers feel that IT-based logistics services are important, but only 42% are satisfied with the capabilities of their provider – as a result of this IT capability gap, shipper respondents reported a lack of the key performance indicators, alerts and visibility required for an adaptive supply chain and 3PLs reported similar difficulties in getting the data and commitment they need from shippers
* There are significant differences between how 3PLs evaluate their role in the supply chain and how they are viewed by shippers – 59% of shippers feel their use of 3PLs has a positive effect on customer service compared to 88% of 3PL respondents
* Shipper respondents devote an average of between 47% (in North America) and 66% (in Europe) of their total logistics expenditures to outsourcing and this is expected to increase in the next five years.

“Shipper-3PL relationships are being impacted significantly by the prevailing uncertainty and economic volatility in global markets,” said Dr. C. John Langley Jr., Professor of Supply Chain Management, Georgia Institute of Technology. “It is very important for 3PLs to mitigate or reduce any financial risk or service level impact that this may cause.”

Economic uncertainty and the use of 3PLs
Economic volatility has challenged shippers and 3PLs alike to contend with factors such as unpredictable demand, instability in fuel costs and currency valuation, and excess inventory. In response, not only are shippers attempting to cut costs, 77% are also seeking to improve forecasting and inventory management.

Cost reduction and improved reliability in services are the main factors likely to increase shipper respondents’ use of 3PLs. This includes converting fixed to variable costs (59%), expanding to new markets or offering new products (56%), and restructuring the supply chain network to improve financial performance (48%).


Read the rest of the mhia.org article here.

Why 3PLs need to build their brand

Over the past several years, the global third party logistics (3PL) industry has changed dramatically. While the demand for 3PL services has grown steadily, the major logistics service providers have expanded their geographical reach and broadened their service offerings. At the same time, the structure of the industry has changed not only through mergers and acquisitions, but also through new market entry by many companies, including some funded by private equity investors. 3PL company reorganizations and name changes have become commonplace.

These changes have fostered a degree of buyer confusion in the marketplace, and many large 3PLs fear a possible “commoditization” of their services in the eyes of those who currently buy their services or are considering doing so. If this is indeed occurring, existing and potential customers will become increasingly indifferent when choosing between logistics service providers. And this, in turn, will intensify the price compression pressures that already plague the 3PL industry.

A key question that needs to be asked here is: What are executives of those 3PL companies doing in response to these market developments? Specifically, what steps have large 3PLs taken in recent years to differentiate their service offerings in the marketplace while strengthening their brands? Further, is there more that those executives should be doing in those areas?

This article addresses the typical steps that companies should take in building, refining, and strengthening their brands—and in particular examines recent attempts by major 3PLs to do so. Branding literature forms the basis for discussion of the general case, and the branding steps taken by large 3PLs were documented through data generated during 2006 and 2007 in surveys of the CEOs of major 3PLs operating in three geographic regions: North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. (For more on the surveys, see accompanying sidebar). We conclude with suggestions for 3PL industry executives concerning their future branding efforts—and the potential positive implications of these efforts on the buyers of these services.

Read the rest of the scmr.com article here.

Transportation infrastructure: Funding options for next surface transportation authorization presented at House hearing

At a Ways and Means subcommittee hearing last week the top two members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee—Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Subcommittee Chairman Peter A. DeFazio (R-Ore.) presented their options for the lack of capital in the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), as well as recommendations for their recently-introduced six-year, $500 billion surface transportation authorization bill, the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009.

This hearing came at a time when there are many questions about how to keep the HTF solvent and how to finance the new legislation.

Among the measures presented by Oberstar and DeFazio for funding the next surface transportation authorization were:

* restoring the HTF for emergency relief, vehicle safety research, and foregone interest;

* issuing $60 billion of 10-year Treasury bonds to finance increases in funding provided during the first several years of the bill, which would be repaid in fiscal year 2012 with revenue from the HTF and be retired in 10 years;

* requiring fuel tax exemptions to be reimbursed from the United States General Treasury Fund;

* increase the per barrel fee on crude oil and imported gasoline and diesel;

* instituting a transaction tax on speculative trading of crude oil futures;

* the implementation of other user fees like an increase in the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, vehicle registration fees, and container fees, which would finance freight related infrastructure improvements (this would be comprised of a $10 fee on every TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container moving through a U.S. port and raise $3 billion over six years;

* a freight waybill tax that would act as a sales tax on freight shipping costs, with a 0.1 percent tax on truck freight waybills that would raise $620 million per year and a similar tax on waybills for all transportation modes that would raise $740 million annually; and

* a transition from a gas and diesel tax to a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee system that charges users for each mile driven.

“There are many options for financing the Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009,” said Oberstar. “None will be popular. However, without new revenues, our highway, highway safety, and public transit programs face enormous cuts at a time when the nation’s surface transportation network requires a substantial increase in investment just to maintain current standards. By making this investment, we will transform the future of surface transportation in the United States.”

Read the rest of the logisticsmgmt.com article here.